This project aims to better quantify the impacts of upland peatland / blanket bog restoration on carbon and water dynamics. We are measuring water table levels, and the quality and quantity of carbon dissolved and eroded in streams and gullies in both degraded and restored areas of the bog.
This work is part-funded by the Scottish Government’s Rural Environment Science and Analytical Services (RESAS) funded Strategic Research Programme (SRP), within the CentrePeat project (2022-2027)
Background:
table depth
Peatlands are critically important for regulating climate and water, and provide valuable habitats for wildlife. However, over 80% of the UK's peatland is degraded and releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and carbon into the water draining through these areas.
Peatland restoration often involves revegetation of bare peat, blocking/reprofiling eroded gulleys and, if present, drainage channels. The purpose of this is to revegetate to reduce emissions, raise the water table and slow the flow of water (and the carbon it carries) from the peatland.
Peatland restoration is of critical importance, and more data is needed to understand how much carbon degraded bogs are losing and how much of their emissions can be reduced by restoration.
The Glensaugh peatland site is one of 11 core James Hutton Institute peatland research sites across Scotland where we seek to quantify peatland carbon balance. We study peatlands representing a variety of conditions, from near natural sites and forest to bog restoration in the flow country to eroded sites and areas of grassland on peat further south. More broadly, Glensaugh and the other core sites sit within a wider network of monitoring in collaboration with NatureScot’s PeatlandACTION project.
You can find out more about the peatland restoration at Glensaugh here.
Key Outputs
There are no published outputs yet, but data will be uploaded to Zenodo
